2 Kings 2:14 (LSB)

Passage

And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” Indeed, he himself also struck the waters, and they were divided here and there! And Elisha crossed over.

Nearby Context

2 Kings 2:12 And Elisha was seeing this and he was crying out, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

2 Kings 2:13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan.

2 Kings 2:14 And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, “Where is Yahweh, the God of Elijah?” Indeed, he himself also struck the waters, and they were divided here and there! And Elisha crossed over.

2 Kings 2:15 Then the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him and said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him.

2 Kings 2:16 Then they said to him, “Behold now, there are with your servants fifty excellent men, please let them go and search for your master, lest the Spirit of Yahweh has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley.” And he said, “You shall not send.”

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "took", "mantle", "elijah", "fell", "struck", "waters", "said", and "where". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "took" and "mantle", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 13's "He also took up the mantle of..." into verse 15's "Then the sons of the prophets who...", so "took" and "mantle" belong inside that flow. In 2 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "took" and "mantle" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.